AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Media Advisory

AI Index: AFR 59/012/2005 (Public)

News Service No: 296

3 November 2005

Invitation: Press conference -- human rights defenders under attack in East and Horn of Africa

As the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights prepares to meet next month, Amnesty International and human rights defenders from across East Africa and the Horn of Africa are meeting to discuss the situation of human rights defenders in the region.

Over 60 grassroots activists from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda are participating in the conference, which is taking place in Entebbe, Uganda from 31 October to 4 November 2005. It will be followed by a press conference on 4 November, at which time a Final Declaration on human rights defenders will be made paublic

The talks have been organized by Amnesty International and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders’ Project (EHAHRDP).

Press conference details:

When: 11am (local time), Friday, 4 November 2005

Where: Windsor Lake Victoria Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda

Who: Jean Lokenga, Amnesty International; Hassan Shire Sheikh, Co-ordinator -- East and Horn of Africa HRD Project; Musa Gassama, International Service for Human Rights

Contacts for media:

Hassan Shire Sheikh, East Africa and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders’ Project (Uganda) + 256 71 39 48 43

Jean Lokenga, Africa Human Rights Defenders Coordinator, Amnesty International (Uganda): + 256 71 77 00 83

Eliane Drakopoulos, Press Officer, Amnesty International (London): +44 20 7413 5564, m +44 7778 472 109

Public Document

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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566

Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.org

For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org